Severity of Harvin's migraine problem caught Vikings by surprise

Severity of Harvin's surprised Vikings

INDIANAPOLIS — Vikings coach Brad Childress said Percy Harvin's migraine headaches didn't raise red flags leading up to the draft last year. There wasn't any reason to believe something was seriously amiss.

But looking back on it, the migraines were more of an issue than they knew at the time.

"It's kind of a lesson learned thing," Childress said.

Childress gave more insight into the extent of the problem Friday at the NFL's annual scouting combine. He acknowledged that, a year later, migraine headaches on the Harvin scouting report indicate something much more significant.

"I just think after the spent time at the Mayo Clinic (in December) that they gave him a pretty good protocol to try to follow," Childress said. "And I think the idea was where he had had a migraine every week for the last four or five weeks (before the Mayo Clinic visit) that we hoped, and the doctor hoped and he hoped, that he would be able to have one every couple of months, every three months, as opposed to having them rapid fire.

"In fact, I want to say it was six weeks until he had one and obviously it was the week of the NFC championship game. Just trying to bring them down. I don't know it well enough to know if he'll ever be able to resolve it completely."

The migraines bothered Harvin last season and forced him to miss the Cincinnati game and a handful of practices. Harvin hasn't had more visits with specialists since his December trip to the Mayo Clinic.

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Despite the migraine problems, Harvin still managed to win the NFL offensive rookie of the year award. He was selected to the Pro Bowl, as well, as a kick returner.

"When you read a scouting report, and you guys have seen different scouting reports that are written about skills and abilities, off field, on field," Childress said. "But when it said migraine headaches, that was kind of just something that I as a coach just kind of passed on by. You just don't realize to what extent. I talked to (Florida coach Urban Meyer) about that. He had a couple at Florida, but maybe not as debilitating as what we experienced here."

Among other topics addressed Friday:

Childress said he's more likely to ask Tom Coughlin than Tiki Barber to talk to Adrian Peterson to help him fix his fumbling problems. Coughlin coached Barber with the New York Giants when the former running back went through similar issues before adopting a new style of carrying the ball.

"It's still part of our offseason study," Childress said. "I know there's been a lot said. I'm not going to discourage that guy from running the ball with the style that he runs the football with. I'm not attempting to take his spirit or take his heart or any of those things. It's easy to compare him to Walter Payton who fumbled once every 22.5 times he carried the football in his first three years, whereas Adrian is once every 44.5 times.

"I know we're living in 2010 right now and we're just off a heartbreaking fumble here or there during the season, but he's a good enough athlete and we're good enough coaches that we'll look at it and we'll do what we can to rectify it. Usually, when he sets his mind to something, he's pretty good about taking care of that business."

The Vikings haven't begun to address the problem in earnest this offseason. The focus is on the draft, and there's plenty of time moving forward, Childress said.

The Vikings' offseason program will begin in late March for players with three years of experience or fewer. The rest of the players will begin two weeks later, Childress said.

Childress has tentative plans to hire a new assistant defensive backs coach to replace Derek Mason, who left to become the secondary coach at Stanford.